Numerous devices have been developed for the sport of boxing that provide aerobic as well as anaerobic conditioning in addition to enhancing the eye/hand coordination of the boxer. An example of one of these devices is a punching bag or “speed bag” which generally comprises a resilient inflatable bag that is swivelly mounted to a rigid support structure. The inflatable bag is generally light in weight and resilient in nature thus imparting a bounce action when struck by a fast moving object such as a fist of a user.
Traditionally, the rigid support structure has been characterized by a flat generally horizontally oriented planar board which is mounted to a wall, ceiling, or other like structure and is positioned at a height at or slightly above the user's head. Upon being struck by the fist of a user, the bag is caused to swivel rapidly upon its swivelly mounted connection. The speed of the inflatable bag is accentuated by a bouncing action that occurs when contacting the planar board at high speeds. The drawback of this type of device is that the rigid support structure must be made relatively large and as such, requires cumbersome attaching means for attachment to a ceiling, wall, or other structure. In addition, the board must be sufficiently secured to the ceiling in order to minimize excessive reverberations caused by the inflatable bag bouncing off of the planar board and thus does not easily lend itself to a portable mounting arrangement which can be removed and placed in storage following each exercise session. Another drawback of this type of device is that the relative speed at which the punching bag moves through its available range of motion is dictated substantially by the size of the punching bag. Thus a novice user must use a larger punching bag which moves slower due to its longer arcuate motion and softer bounce off of the planar board. As the agility and skill of the user increases, another smaller bag which has a faster motion must be purchased; that is, a single punching bag is not adaptable to users of varying skill levels.
Various devices have been proposed that enable the portable use of a punching bag and examples of such devices include Pat. No. 3,030,109 to Albitz, and Pat. No. D440,269 to Thomas. Although both of these devices are portable in nature, they are cumbersome and difficult to use and store due to the necessity of a conventional planar board which is relatively large in size. The angular resonant frequency or speed of the punching bag is defined as the inverse of the natural cyclicle period at which the punching bag swings through its arcuate motion. The use of the planar board has served to decrease the effective cyclicle period and thus inversely increase the speed or action of the bag by providing a rebounding action thereto. Thus, although the use of the planar board as described by Albitz and Thomas is relatively large and cumbersome, it does serve to increase the speed or action of the bag thereby providing a challenging and useful workout for the user. Pat. No. 2,400,105 to Costello discloses a portable punching bag device having releasable mounting means suited for releasable attachment to the waist of a user, however no provisions have been made which allows for selective adjustment of the angular resonant frequency or speed of the bag. In addition, no means are provided to increase the speed or action of the bag using a planar board or other similar device. The '105 device also describes no releasable mounting means to any structure other than a waist mounted arrangement. That is, the '105 device does not teach, nor suggest the use of a punching bag which is adaptable for releasable attachment to varying types of structures. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,377 to Wilkinson discloses a punching bag device having a resilient rod member for imparting a resonant pendulum-like action thereto. However the '377 device does not disclose nor teach any means of changing the effective speed or action of the punching bag without also necessitating modification of the height of the bag relative to the user.
There has thus been a long-felt, unsatisfied need for a portable punching bag exercise system that is light and portable for use at any location. The punching bag arrangement should be structurally sound in order to allow repeated use without failure and following use, can be packaged into a small space for easy storage. Optionally, the effective speed of the punching bag about its swivel mount should be adjustable so that users of varying skill levels will be able to practice without the need to purchase an assortment of variable sized punching bags for use thereon.